in the 2012 campaign mitt romney was basically left hanging by jeb bush. the fate of the candidacy was on the line. newt gingrich crushed him in south carolina. romney had to bounce back win florida. who do you want on your side in a must win situation, you want jeb bush. what did he say to mitt romney no i am not going to do anything for you. didn't lift a finger. there's resentment there, also after the election in 2012. after the election in 2012 jeb bush more than other republicans, there were plenty of republicans that piled on mitt romney after that more than other republicans jeb bush was specifically critical of the romney campaign privately and in some cases publicly. certainly private stuff worked back to mitt romney public stuff was impossible to ignore. when you take that personal element and you're mitt romney watching jeb bush make his move for 2016 then saying wait a minute, i don't think this guy is more popular among republicans than i am at least right now, i think that starts to give you motivation to give him a hard time. one quick thing

mitt romney is gearing up for his third presidential run. romney almost certainly will run for president. the post reports that romney is moving quickly to reassemble his national political network. romney will also be attending this week's rnc meeting in san diego. a source close to romney said he will deliver remarks on friday night. i bet they can't wait. i say mitt romney should absolutely go for it. it can't possibly go any worse than 2012. >> i'm in this race because i care about americans. i'm not concerned about the very poor. we have a safety net there. if it needs repair, i'll fix it. i'm concerned about the very heart of america. >> i like being able to fire people who provide services to me. if someone doesn't give me the good service i need i want to say i'm going to get somebody else to provide that service to me. >> i'm not sure about these cookies. they don't look like you made them. you didn't, did you? >> no. >> they came from the local 7-eleven bakery or whatever. >> rick i'll tell you what. 10,000 bucks, $10,000 bet? >> i'

mitt romney is not going to be a candidate for president in 2016. ney making that announcement for supporters and staff in a conference call just moments ago at the top of the hour. already some potential gop contenders who benefit from his decision are weighing in. just a moment ago, jeb bush tweeting mitt is a patriot and i join many in hoping his days of serving the party are not over. jude ay miller is here linn sweet is here. and lynn let's start with you. i may have mischaracterized your opinion of all of this coverage you say it isn't overdone. not yet. >> you talk about saturation and i don't think we are at a damp level. you have a lot of news because a lot of news is happening, including this morning the news of mitt romney not going to run. you know so that takes one player out a little bit. we are in the season where people are announcing so it is natural to have a lot of political news. we are in the run up to a giant election with no obvious republican front runner and you have the obsession with hilary clinton. i think there is room fo

hillary clinton, mitt romney jeb bush. better than romney bush both are upside down. what romney sees when he looks at numbers is look everybody is talking about jeb bush being the big kahuna in the republican party, meanwhile, mitt romney i am more popular with all voters than jeb bush is. not like jeb bush is popular or rivals hillary clinton. romney and bush do about the same. match them head to head again all of the talk about mitt romney is done jeb bush is the future, this is what romney has been hearing. you match them with hillary clinton, basically the same thing. not like jeb bush is beating her and mitt romney being trounced by her. look at more interesting numbers. this is just among republicans. positive or negative view of candidates. look at this. mitt romney is 15 points more popular than jeb bush. again, all the talk about romney ace has been. you ask republicans, romney is more popular than bush. look at this. tea party republicans. the hardcore base of the republican party. this is notable for two reasons

mitt romney's dropped out of the presidential race. know you have a warm spot in your heart for romney such a regular guy from the neighborhoods. how do you feel about him pulling out of the -- you know he's a harvard guy, business school, harvard law. you must feel really close though this character. your thoughts on the demise of the mitt romney -- >> we'll be all set here. i'll figure it out. i'll get over it. >> let me ask you about the brady thing. how are the brady fans reacting up there? i remember how johnny most used to call the celts game was always the homer commentator there. anything on the processing of the football up there to blame them for the fact that there was a little less pressure than it was supposed to be the football? >> all we're worried about is playing on sunday. the referees have the opportunities to fix the footballs. they touch them more than the players do. all we're focused on is sunday's game, sunday's kickoff and i'm looking forward to calling my friend, the mayor sunday night just to say you had a nic

and then as mitt romney goes from no no no no to well why not. republicans go from we miss you mitt to thanks but no thanks. some come here to build something smarter. ♪ ♪ some come here to build something stronger. others come to build something faster... something safer... something greener. something the whole world can share. people come to boeing to do many different things. but it's always about the very thing we do best. ♪ ♪ at ally bank no branches equals great rates. it's a fact. kind of like mute buttons equal danger. ...that sound good? not being on this phone call sounds good. it's not muted. was that you jason? it was geoffrey! it was jason. it could've been brenda. at ally bank no branches equals great rates. it's a fact. kind of like mute buttons equal danger. ...that sound good? not being on this phone call sounds good. it's not muted. was that you jason? it was geoffrey! it was jason. it could've been brenda. >>> welcome back. to discuss the terror threat and foreign policy challenges that face the country, joined from jerusalem b

is mitt romney -- yes, that mitt romney -- ready for his close-up? good evening. i'm cris matthews in philadelphia. can you believe it? mitt romney, the man telling the 1% how much he thought the 47% were just takers, the guy who said corporations are just regular folks, the guy who said when he ran for president the second time, you have to get the illegals off your lawn if you're headling for the white house. can he run for president a third time? this fella showing his deep commitment to th

mitt romney's dropped out of the presidential race. i know you have a warm spot in your heart for romney, such a regular guy from the neighborhoods. how do you feel about him pulling out of the -- you know, he's a harvard guy, business school, harvard law. you must feel really close though this character. your thoughts on the demise of the mitt romney -- >> we'll be all set here. i'll figure it out. i'll get over it. >> let me ask you about the brady thing. how are the brady fans reacting up there? i remember how johnny most used to call the celts game was always the homer commentator there. anything on the processing of the football up there to blame them for the fact that there was a little less pressure than it was supposed to be, the football? >> all we're worried about is playing on sunday. the referees have the opportunities to fix the footballs. they touch them more than the players do. all we're focused on is sunday's game, sunday's kickoff and i'm looking forward to calling my friend, the mayor sunday night just to say you had

mitt romney surprises the political world by announcing he will not run for president. th praise for romney on social media. we'll have more reaction and carl cameron next hour. plus another tough day on wall street as fourth quarter gdp in this country comes in at a smaller than expected 2.6%. still, there are signs of a huge surge in consumer spending which could provide a big lift for stocks. and we are awaiting a news conference from roger goodell his annual state of the nfl address. the nfl commissioner expected to get some tough questions on everything from super bowl to de-flategate to concussions which are down in the nfl. we'll be talking about that as well. >> look forward to it. thank you very much. jon: thanks, harris. >> i may be outnumbered but now it's my turn with story. who doesn't love a good animated disney romance? but did i -- did you ever notice the guys, the heros are huge like enormous, and the women -- especially the princesses -- are itty bitty, teeny tiny even in stories like "frozen," princesses have a waist you can fit your hand around. but t

mitt romney thousand seems on the verge of plunging into his third presidential campaign. the media reaction has been overwhelmingly negative on the right as well as the left. >> romney is like a loafer, a casual sweater. i want somebody who -- a character riz matt tick persuasive republican who wants to win. >> can you believe it mitt romney the man caught telling the 1% how much he thought the 47% were just takers, the guy who said corporations are just regular folks can he run for president a third time? >> i sat down with laura ingraham syndicated radio host. welcome. >> great to see you. >> you had an off the record lunch with mitt romney. while he's making up his mind whether to get serious about 2016, is he courting you? >> i hope if nip is interested in running for president, they are thinking of building a bridge to the conservative movement. i've been in the conservative movement since i was 18 a long time. a bridge maybe to my listeners and people in talk radio people who have been a little bit disappointed with the way the establishment has handled things like c

in many ways there is a lot of aberration for mitt romney for what he did in -- admiration for mitt romneyor what he did in 2012, but then there is the sense that we need to move forward. scott walker is an example of that. marco rubio, collected in 2010 -- a new face, young face, fresh face. i think it is interesting that governor walker is being thrown out there is a real possibility. i think he is thinking about it. trying to way -- trying to way when to jump in. since "the washington post," "the new york times," are covering mitt romney, jeb bush, someone like scott walker might benefit from jumping in. he will not have as much money as those candidates, but people start covering you when you are running for president or when they think you are running for president. it would be a good opportunity for him to bone up on foreign policy, and make the case that what he is done in wisconsin the leadership that the caller talked about, is something he would like to apply to the country. host: armand. richard. -- vermont. richard. democrats line. caller: my thoughts on the president -- whoeve

say both jeb bush and mitt romney are in.andicap that. >> i would defer to fred but i would that on bush. i think he's more likely to be the establishment choice but i think that's more complicated that it has been in the past. every cycle, it's getting harder and harder for the establishment to impose choice. if the field is fragmented, they probably do it again, but i would bet on bush. i think that's where most of the smart money would go. i think there's a general consensus, fair or unfair that romney did not run a very good campaign in 2012. would go the same route. even though his name is bush, jeb is the newer deal. >> the country is looking for a fresh new change. >> how about the back to the future election with push and clinton? >> i want to ask this question. we all basically assume because it has been the historical reality in the republican party that the establishment candidate ultimately staves off the grassroots candidate to become the nominee. the party has changed a lot. is there a chance the establishment c

the only person to show more commitment to a romney presidency than mitt romney is eric hartsburg, whoed the romney 2012 campaign symbol on his face. but mr. hartsburg told buzz feed today that he will not support a third romney run saying "he's going to say something later on to mess it up. it's going to look real good and then bam, something else. he screws it up." mr. hartsburg has so far had two treatments for removing the romney tattoo. but he's apparently going to need many more. joining me now is david corn washington bureau chief for mother jones and msnbc political analyst. david first broke the story about the now famous 47% remarks that mitt romney made during that campaign. also joining me is casey hunt political correspondent for msnbc. she covered mitt romney's 2012 campaign. casey, what does mitt romney have to say this weekend when he goes out there to add more fuel to this thing? he can't just say that i'm thinking about it or yes, i want to be. is it time for him to announce a pack or something like jeb bush has already done? >> i don't know that they're that far away

mitt romney says he's thinking about running for a third time.e will probably ask you about what the political implications are. you've worked with presidential candidates and a lot of people -- what is mitt romney thinking if he is serious? >> i don't know what bob thinks but i've always thought romney has always thought from the day he's born should be president. third time's the charm. >> i may disagree about the plausible part. >> having done a campaign against him in massachusetts, -- i'm reminded of a story george mcgovern told me about walter mondale which was three or four years after the 1984 campaign, mondale said to mcgovern when does it stop hurting? mcgovern said never. those guys lost big. i think somebody who loses by three points, who thought he was going to win, i think the ache the desire, the internal impulse to go for it again is strong plus he has a lot of people around him telling him he should. >> you know he does. >> say both jeb bush and mitt romney are in. handicap that. who would you bet on? >> i would defer to fred but

deportation and owns a couple of cadillacs. >> democrat are the happiest people to hear about a third mitt romney run. someone said in a piece they wish people could run against romney again and again because the backs are already written how they brought him down. >> it seemed he did not get a honeymoon of two days before everyone started to focus on his liabilities and do you think the negative chatter you said it seems like yesterday 2012 is that part of the testy recommendations he had with the press? >> that is pat of it. but it is fought like covering the hillary clinton campaign is a walk in the park. i am assuming she runs. i don't think it is colored by the fact that dealing with the press is difficult because that is the nature of a campaign. >> is there a sense of of deja vu another two years on the road with mitt romney, is any of this personal? >> i don't think so. i don't think it is personal. i think it is more that part of covering a presidential campaign is exciting you get to know this person. we know this guy. we know mitt romney already and we covered that campaign. >> but not

>> mitt romney may be back and he's got a new platform to prove it. >> very problematic for mitt romney who has others to run a campaign on poverty. >> he choked like a dog. we cannot allow that to happen again. >> who in their right mind would listen to someone who keeps getting whupped. >> charlie brown keeps kicking that football. >>> a new poll from the "washington post" and abc news shows president obama's approval rating hitting the 50% mark since may of 2013. among all adults polled 50% approve of the way president obama is handling his job while 44% disapprove. in the october poll same poll president obama's approval rating was 10 points layer, at 40%. president obama will announce a package of state cuts paid for by an increase in the capital gains tax. a video released by the white house today, president obama gave a preview of tomorrow's state of the union address. >> last year was the best job growth we had seen since the 1990s. the unemployment rate has now dropped to 5.6%. we have seen manufacturing come back. we have cut our deficits gas prices have dropped, so we are wel

and then as mitt romney goes from no, no, no, no, to, well, why not. republicans go from, we miss you mitt to thanks but no thanks. that's all coming up. ♪ with the incredible fuel efficiency of 38 mpg highway... ♪ ...you can feel like royalty in the nissan altima. ♪ now get great offers on the 38 mpg highway nissan altima. nissan, innovation that excites. i will take beauty into my own hands... where it belongs. olay regenerist. it regenerates surface cells. new skin is revealed in only 5 days. without drastic measures. stunningly youthful. award-winning skin. never settle for anything less. the regenerist collection. from the world's # 1 olay. your best beautiful. [ music an >>> welcome back. to discuss the terror threat and foreign policy challenges that face the country, joined from jerusalem by lindsey graham, republican senator for south carolina, spent the last few days traveling in the middle east, has visited saudi arabia, qatar, prior to arriving in israel today. senator graham, welcome back to "meet the press." let me start with a basic quest

. >>> mitt romney, master of the pump fake. it is friday january 30th, and this is "now." >> third time is not the charm. >> former governor mitt romney announcing he is not running for president. >> i've decided it's best to give other leaders in the parties an opportunity. >> mitt romney wanted this. they believe they have the money. they believe they have the support. >> the ground was beginning to crumble beneath mitt romney's feet. >> the rankin file was saying been there done that. >> republicans are happier that he's not running than anyone else in the country. >> mitt romney is watching his people defect to jeb bush. >> he probably concluded that the support was not there. ♪ for purple mountains' majesty above the fruited plain ♪ >> can we drop the bias baloney? >> either the trees are not the right height or mitt romney likes being able to red herring reporters. whatever the reason, the political world is saddled with binders full of emotion today on the news that mitt romney will not make a third run for president of

as charlie heb"charlie hebdo" hits the streets, protests -- then there's mitt romney. he says maybe i will. and republicans say maybe you shouldn't. >> heaven knows i have experience running for president. >> the sour reaction to mitt 3.0. and we've seen it year after year. >> tonight i have the honor of responding to st state of the union address. >> can iowa's -- >> i'm chuck todd and joining me are president obama's former white house press secretary. kelly o'donnell. carol lee of the wall street journal and michael steel, former chairman of the republican national committee. welcome to sunday. it's "meet the press." >> good morning. the shock waves of the paris terror attacks continue to be felt particularly in europe. muslims angry at "charlie hebdo" have taken to the streets across the world, churches torched and three people killed in the former french colony. there have also been anti-terror raids across europe and a number of countries including belgium. and my exclusive interview with the new editor of "charlie hebdo." >> reporter: all over europe police and c

jeb bush made enemies in the romney camp in 2012 because he withheld his endorsement of mitt into late in the process. so that may have something to do with it. a new face could qualify as much as it might for markco rubio as ben carson. more than anything what romney is saying is his withdrawal from the race shouldn't be seen about anything about him as a deficient candidate but he is saying it is important to find somebody to beat hillary clinton. >> i have heard it at least 15 times. we are going to step aside for a new generation when you decide to can out. there has only been two candidates who have run three times for president. he would have been the third. both had strong constituencies and mitt romney did not. and i said this when jeb bush said he was going to think about getting it in, the first people he was going to scare people. one of the reasons he is not going is that he lost two key financial people to jeb bush. >> well it is true that some of his donors from the last time around were going to hang in with him. it is also very true that a lot of them weren't and he kne

. >>> mitt romney tries to convince skeptical republicans he's still their best hope of winning the white house. >> i'm giving some serious consideration to the future. >> chris christie is gearing up, too. >> your nation is set by anxiety. >> the president gets a big stage this week, state of the union address. >> kind of in a rush. i didn't want to wait until the state of the union to share my ideas. >> poll numbers are up but the president's new proposals have little chance in the republican controlled congress. >> let's lead with a big, bold positive agenda that says to the american people, you had a referendum and you rejected the obama agenda. >> "inside politics" the biggest stories sourced by the best reporters now. >>> welcome to "inside politics" i'm john king. thanks for sharing our sunday morning. with us to share their stories, julie pace, robert costa, cnn's peter hamby and malika emerson of the washington post. president obama is ready to share a wish list aimed at the middle class but one that has zero chance of passing the republican controlled congress. that in a moment.

i would say mitt romney has mt. everest to climb to get to that third try that produces another nomination. >> thanks to all of you. i have to leave it there. thanks so much. larry, ggloria chris. >>> that romney phone call with supporters will happen in less than an hour. 11:00 a.m. eastern. cnn reporters will bring you mr. romney's decision live. >>> still to come in the "newsroom," we move farther away from the lapsed isis deadline highlights the danger of negotiating with terrorists in the first place. jim sciutto looks at what's at play next. well, did you know that playing cards with kenny rogers gets old pretty fast? ♪ you got to know when to hold'em. ♪ ♪ know when to fold 'em. ♪ ♪ know when to walk away. ♪ ♪ know when to run. ♪ ♪ you never count your money, ♪ ♪ when you're sitting at the ta...♪ what? you get it? i get the gist yeah. geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. when heartburn comes creeping up on you... fight back with relief so smooth... ...it's fast. tums s

which means it goes to chris christie or scott walker. >> it is specifically between jeb bush and mitt romney. when romney gave a speech on his mormonism, and jeb has had problems with how mitt conducted himself in 2012 and when newt gingrich won and then they go to florida and you are mitt romney and you have to win in florida and he said jeb bush i need your help and i need to win your state and what did jeb bush do he sat on his hands. after the 2012 campaign and he lost to barack obama and who comes out and gives a public critique of the romney campaign jeb bush. you think that didn't get heard by mitt romney. and there is a big part of mitt romney that always wanted to be president and did in the want to give up his dream but there is a part of mitt romney that saw jeb bush make these moves and all of the headlines about i'm making the move and mitt romney is saying i'm ahead in the polls and i'm supposed to step aside for this guy, i don't think so. >> and there is these personal and emotional considerations that going into a decision like this and i think as political reporters we can

m and also what role mitt romney will play now. the daily news captured them leaving the harvard club. the would have been rival, will romney stay above the political fray and be an elder statesman, or will he get involved and throw his support behind candidate if he goes that route, there's no love lost between him and jeb bush. here to talk about everything that happened yesterday, we have katie packard-gauge. she's here with us. dan balls, chief correspondent. and kacie hunt is in london. she's there ahead of chris christie christie's visit to that country. so i thank you all for getting up early and talking with us. dan, i guess they call the stories the tick-tok. you write that he basically settled on a no answer a week ago and then waited a few days to see how they felt. >> i think he was officely close to yes for a part of the period. everything he looked at told him he was in as good of shape during the nomination and to go on and challenge. not that he had an easy past. their question back to me was who has an easier pass t

is mitt romney -- yes, that mitt romney -- ready for his close-up? philadelphia. can you believe it? mitt romney the man telling the 1% how much he thought the 47% were just takers the guy who said corporations are just regular folks, the guy who said when he ran for president

we'll talk about that in just a moment but we have the breaking news from mitt romney what does it meanor the rest of the republican presidential field? former republican congressman vin weber served as senior adviser to romney during his 2012 campaign. does this surprise you? >> it surprises me. all of the signals governor romney was sending was that he was likely to run and close supporters said they thought it was about an 80% likelihood. i'm a great add mirror of governor romney but glad he's not running. i think the process of running for the third time would have been pretty tough on him and now he has a chance to resume his role as the most respected guy in the republican party and one of the most respected guys in the country. even though it's hard to believe that somebody can say you're a great admirer of somebody but that is my view. >> do you think it was because key supporters past supporters iowa and elsewhere were moving to jeb bush? do you think that was part of the calculation? >> my guess and it's a guess that he saw there were a lot of viable candidates. jeb bush has d

and he actually talked about that meeting, that intriguing meeting he had with mitt romney in salt lake city a few days ago. this is what he said about that. >> i went to visit governor romney. i have enormous respect for him. the meeting was set up three months ago, under slightly different circumstances, i guess. and i was happy to be able to you know continue to have the meeting. we talked about the patriots. we talked a little bit about politics. not as much as you might imagine. we talked about the future of the country. talked about a need for a more engaged foreign policy where the united states accepts world power status because it brings peace and stability in the world. >> so if you talk to people in bush and romney world about this meeting that happened the other night, there isn't any sort of grand bargain that emerged. these guys weren't there to like make a deal about who someone is going to run and someone is not going to run for the republican nomination. both of them though seemed to be full steam ahead. so we just have to wait and see for when jeb bush is actually goin

i think it is a terrible idea. >> the wall street journal quipped if mitt romney is the answer, what ion? and the paper's owner rupert murdoch more blunt he had his chance, he mishandled it, you know? i thought romney was a terrible candidate. even former supporters are trying to squelch the idea that anybody is drafting romney. >> governor romney had two increasingly good years after losing the presidency and now he's had one pretty bad week. >> potential opponents are already taking jabs. >> honestly, we wornt successfuleren't successful and you have to ask why. >> john mccain or mitt romney, the result over and over again is we lose. >> i think it is pretty hard to make an argument about going forward when you're talking about ideas from the past. >> but elections are supposed to be about the future, 2016 is turning into the year of the political rerun. the fathers of mitt romney and jeb bush once served together in richard nixon's cabinet. now supporters of one dynasty are attacking the other. >> three times a bush i'm not sure that's the right formula. >> what does it mean for th

mitt romney is out. he is going to kill supporters minutes from now that he has decided not to make a third presidential run in 2016. that is after many of his former aides and top donors indicated they are going to support somebody else, jeb bush. more on romney's decision coming up in just a couple minutes. the u.s. economy expanded at a 2.6% rate in the fourth quarter, slower than economists forecast. they plan cooling business investment and slowed government spending. consumer spending jumped by the most in almost nine years. you could flame royal -- you could not flame broil hotter ipo if you try. shake shack shares are booming this morning. more than double the ipo price of $21 last night. it gives shake shack a market valuation of more than $1.7 billion. the company plans to use the $100 million of proceeds from its ipo to build more locations around the world. he currently has 63. another sign the eurozone may be entering a dangerous period of deflation. it matches the biggest price decline in t

look at the polls that did test them together. 21 to 10 mitt romney 19-10, mitt romney. 19-14, mitt romney. 19-11, mitt romney. you look at those numbers, 21 19, 19 those are not overwhelming numbers. but he's basically doubling up jeb bush. if you're mitt romney and there's a strong sort of personal history there, a lot of animosity between romney and jeb bush. if you're mitt romney and you start seeing jeb bush make all of the moves to run for president, you start reading these stories about how jeb bush is going to unite the republican party, most electable republican, all of those things. and you're mitt romney and looking at the polls, you're probably saying to yourself wait a minute, why not me. why do i have to yield to this guy? that explains the interest the last few months. the idea behind this might be is that enough to call down what will be the primary and general because we saw what happened in 2012, perhaps they are looking in the rearview mirror and saying we want the same thing, who else needs to drop out? >> that's the thing. this is the test. let's see how much money jeb

mitt romney does still have that 47% problem and that image problem and he's been so many mitt romneys, that you can play lots of those different iterations of mitt romney and that's going to be hart for him. i don't think his problem is that he's a rerun. because you know what? in our politics now, look at the list. >> then there's the problem of america hates losers. so they allow you, gene, in the last few decades, they'll reconsider if you lost during the primaries. they do not like to reconsider nominees. and i believe the last time they ever nominated a losing nominee was a guy named adalay stevens in the 1950s. and that was a democrat by the way. >> it never quite worked out for him. american voters don't like to go for the candidate who actually lost in the general election. that generally doesn't have -- richard nixon did lose a general election and win one, so it can happen. look, if mitt romney has "the wall street journal"'s editorial page asking if he's the answer, what's the question, if he considers getting into the place, i would say it's not promising for him. i would

right now it is jeb bush and mitt romney. the question for donors and this week i talked to some donors on the republican side they don't feel any passion or reason for mitt romney to get back in the game. friday night, san diego republican national committee winter meeting, he made the case he has a new narrative and thinks with a strong foreign policy hand to say the obama administration is weak as we discussed in the first panel and more effort in terms of speaking to the middle class about upward mobility, that mitt romney can be the best candidate for 2016. >> i'm not sure other republicans, especially the grassroots, agree. >> and neither do some of the competitors in 2016 here are a couple of them weighing in on a possible three pete. >> i think the same old same old has been tried. and if we try the same thing again, we might get the same result first we are going to be up against hillary clinton, we have to offer a new fresh approach and one that comes from the states. >> kimberly we see senator rand paul and scott w

mitt romney is i k.dicted all these things or let other people say it on his behalf. for me it's not the thrust of the candidacy. look i think mitt romney wanted to run all along. he made 80 phone calls on election night. you don't do that because you are really happy for the people that run. >> he traveled to more than 20 states. >> do you that because you want to run. remember, before the 2012 race, before he got back in the 2012 race, his official line was that he was thinking about it, he wasn't sure, but he could be pulled back into politics after having lost in 2008. also nonsense. he was going to run the whole time. , this i think is going to be the fundamental challenge for a romney candidacy. his problem going back years, has been flip flopping or inauthenticity, call it what you want. i think he is starting this race by pretending that he has just now been called back into the race, possibly called back into service. when i think this is pretty clear that this is something that he was thinking

of mitt romney. 37% for jeb bush. and among republicans who identify as tea partiers, 61% had a positive view of mitt romney. only 37% say the same thing for jeb bush. a new washington post/abc news poll finds both candidates fall short when paired against the likely democratic presidential nominee, hillary clinton. she has a 13-point lead over jeb bush and a 15-point lead over mitt romney. joining me now, msnbc political analyst, eugene robinson, and msnbc's steve karnacky. gene did you believe a word tom brady had to say today? >> not a whole lot. he's a michigan guy, i'm a michigan guy. so i have a certain sympathy for tom brady. you know belichick threw him under the bus. he apparently threw the equipment manager under the bus. we'll see what the equipment manager has to say. >> steve, when i was in high school, every time i had to throw or catch a football, the inflation mattered. you could tell how hard that thing was. it really matters. there's brady today trying to say, i couldn't tell the difference. >> the r

that might work against mitt romney.ast time he beat a very very weak field of basically herman kaine, newt gingrich and who is that other guy? >> can't remember the third. >> have all of you seen "american sniper"? >> yes. >> twice. >> twice? >> good stuff. >> yeah. >> liked it right? >> i -- well, as a movie, yeah. yeah. >> what else was it? >> it wasn't such a good play. >> what the heck was that? >> as a story based of a character on a real person and a real book it doesn't accurately reflect the book nor the real character. >> wow. >> okay. >> i mean i'm just -- >> which part of it does it not accurately reflect. >> he makes me tired today. >> he's talking to michael moore. >> the film depicting chris kyle which ayman has detailed issues with has already won over audiences in the u.s. raking in more than $200 million since the release but it's also reportedly thrilling audiences in baghdad. some viewers got so into the film they began shouting out during the screening. the global post reported one moviegoer yelling

>> look at mitt romney.re he would go with this if he does. heavy on foreign policy. looking out to solve the poverty question. does he risk having people say, who is this guy? >> i think that's a huge risk for mitt romney. it's not only a risk, it's a reality for mitt romney. he ran one campaign in 2008. a different campaign in 2012. to me this campaign he's developing, he should be talking about foreign policies. as you led into all this we have huge foreign policy concerns. i think it's problematic for mitt romney, who has car elevators, to run a campaign on poverty. i think -- you want to be authentic and genuine. that's not to say wealthy people can't talk about those issues. it's difficult. >> what should he do? what would be a path to victory? >> he needs to have a central argument that is cohesive and comprehensive and that he can sell to the american people. i don't think that anti-poverty is that. he'll be up against titans compared to 2008 and 2012. this is a much more competitive field. if he had

and i think mitt romney want dodd wait a little bit longer if he was going to make that decision. in and let the donors know that he's seriously thinking about it as well. >> let's go through some of the pros and cons. our last three presidents president obama, president george w. bush president clinton won on their first run. their first run for president, they won. but ronald reagan it was his third time. mitt romney knows that. bob dole was the nominee. he ran twice, was the nominee and lost. mccain was the nominee and lost on his second time. in this age, the twitter age, are voters ready to give you a third time? >> the time cycles are much more compressed. this is not ronald reagan's campaign cycle any more. you do see mitt romney doing some of the public outreach. although again the purpose of the public outreach is for the behind-the-scenes campaign. as he tries to rebrand himself and make the case that he's sort of more in touch with the common man's concerns. you see him struggling to find the window. to make that third bid, if it's possible. >> and yet, even if he loses

and i think mitt romney's got that figured out. hink he's going to -- bush will ward him off but he's created a big opening for romney. >> let me just say this, guys, i have served jeb bush for the last several weeks. he is working in the most tireless, focused, lasered way. i think that's what led to a lot shifting that we've seen this week, whether it's from chris christie's -- you know, the reports that he's going to put his announcement -- make it before he was going to do it. i think it's shifting. hillary world, as well. >> it's accelerating everything. >> accelerating mike huckabee's decisions because jeb has shown that he's not thinking -- he's entitled to it. he's working hard for every donor. >> i was struck by one report on what mitt romney told these donors bob reich. he sort of went at bush saying bush's business background is going to be the problem after all that mitt romney took last time around. >> well, look, you're going to have two big business candidates, candidates of wall street, candidates of big corporate bo

i think it is a terrible idea. >> the wall street journal quipped if mitt romney is the answer, what is the question? and the paper's owner rupert murdoch more blunt he had his chance, he mishandled it, you know? i thought romney was a terrible candidate. even former supporters are trying to squelch the idea that anybody is drafting romney. >> governor romney had two increasingly good years after losing the presidency and now he's had one pretty bad week. >> potential opponents are already taking jabs. >> honestly, we wornt successfuleren't successful and you have to ask why. >> john mccain or mitt romney, the result over and over again